Advocates for the homeless will discuss the creation of a drop-in center in Astoria.

Colin Murphey/The Daily Astorian

The group is informal, made up in large part by people who have been participating in the city’s homelessness task force meetings, but who “wanted to see what action we could take,” Moffett said.

As sketched out in a draft proposal, the drop-in center would offer a one-stop shop to connect people to social services, as well as provide a safe place for people to socialize, rest and access amenities like showers, restrooms and storage lockers.

Moffett and Bowers, who are board members for the Astoria Warming Center, an emergency shelter, modeled the concept on a similar facility in Portland.

“We are at the beginning stages of defining the concept of what we want to create and vetting the concept with the community,” Moffett said.

The group has yet to apply for tax-exempt status or establish a formal board of directors.

Members include representatives from social service organizations, including Clatsop Behavioral Healthcare and Clatsop Community Action, as well as Columbia Memorial Hospital in Astoria.

Erin Carlsen, of Filling Empty Bellies, a nonprofit that provides lunch to anyone in need and offers other services to the homeless in Astoria, is involved with the group, along with Vernon Hall, a homeless advocate who was formerly homeless and served on the Filling Empty Bellies board.

Last year, Filling Empty Bellies made some headway toward opening a drop-in center, even partnering with an employment agency to lease property off state Highway 202.

But the nonprofit later learned the property owners faced foreclosure from Clatsop County for unpaid property taxes, throwing the future of the site in question. Plans to open the center stalled and, ultimately, did not proceed.

Moffett and Bowers’ group still has a long way to go. It will need to develop a business plan and secure formal commitments from partner agencies and social service organizations. They have yet to find a building and will need to consider fundraising strategies.

Moffett and Bowers have spoken to the city about where, and in what kinds of zones, a drop-in center could be located. There appear to be options in two types of commercial zones for a public access-type facility.

“Before we do any of those things, however, we need to ensure that there is support in the community,” Moffett said.

Moffett and Bowers have expressed frustration with some of the city’s decisions regarding the homeless — in particular a sweep of camps in the woods last year — and wanted to see the task force take on more concrete projects.

Former Mayor Arline LaMear has said a drop-in center is critical in addressing homelessness and it was something she would have liked to see established during her time as mayor. But she and other city leaders were doubtful that city resources could create and maintain a facility.

However, LaMear did believe the city could play an important role in supporting and advocating for the efforts of a group or organization interested in opening a drop-in center.

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(2) comments

I walk Commercial on a regular basis. More and more the sidewalks are strewn with trash, dog poop, sometimes human waste, flem wads and vomit (lots of vomit). If you'd rather not track the aforementioned into your home you literally have to watch your step throughout downtown. I'd like to see these benevolent folks put at least a modicum of effort into cleaning it up before encouraging more.

How strangely different perspective are. For a long time, I saw lots of feces and trash, as well. But, I live 1/2 block off of commercial, and walk between 15th and 9th a lot. I have seen a lessening of the things you are having trouble avoiding. Although I will say that when the city has a big festival event (like we have just had) where we have huge numbers of tourists and city residents drinking a lot more than usual, I do see more vomit and broken fixtures around the city. I've kind of decided part of the issue about the visibility of the messes have to do with which faction of society we are looking at. A lot of residents, who don't like the noise disturbance of the drunken tourists will notice the messes and destruction the leave behind. Those who don't lie the homeless will notice the messes they leave. And, probably both sides, when seeing a mess that they don't know the origin of ascribes it to the other faction. It's interesting that last week, for the third time this year I had a discussion with a "sheltered" resident about a homeless person, and after clarifying who, was able to inform the person I was talking with that the person they mistook for homeless is not only not homeless, but he owns a house, and because he is somewhat wealthy, he is often seen sitting around, doing nothing. It's impossible to know who is homeless and who is not if you are going to go by appearance alone. It's necessary to get to know someone in order to definitively decide they are homeless or they are not. Because of that, I think blaming the homeless for things can be a sketchy business, unless you know the person and you witness it, which sometimes does happen.

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